Paul Sullivan, Managing Partner
Mortgage companies and lenders seem to be reacting to the threat of a rise in interest rates by pulling their most attractive fixed rate offers off the shelf. This means that you should act quickly if you are planning to move or looking for a new mortgage deal.
The problem with a few lenders taking action like this is that the other lenders take notice and then start to do the same. This results in a bigger impact in the market.
With competition so stiff in the last few years, many lenders have been keen to show the best fixed rate deals as most people are not looking to fix for longer periods because of the stable low rates of interest. Therefore the lenders have had to provide attractive and good value deals to entice customers, but with the threat of the first rise in interest rates since 2009, they are revaluating this strategy.
The withdrawal of competitive fixed rate mortgages will mean that buyers may rush to secure the best deals before they disappear which might cause backlogs and delays in mortgage applications. This could be another driver for lenders to remove some of their best deals, managing the backlog before opening up applications for these mortgages again.
The Bank of England has openly talked about the potential of a rise in interest rates and the knock on effect for many people in the UK will be significant. In early August, a vote by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee was not unanimous, with 8 to 1 voting in favour of keeping rates at 0.5 per cent.
The rate of inflation seems to have slowed, and this has given rise to commentary that a rise in interest rates will be delayed until 2016.
Mortgage lenders may again soon start offering good fixed rate deals and if you are in the market for a new mortgage you may need to act quickly to take advantage of them.
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